Vive l'Internet

Festival tries to lure French on information autoroute

March 21, 1998
Web posted at: 10:31 p.m. EDT (2231 GMT)

PARIS (CNN) -- A festival in Paris is trying to lure the French onto the information superhighway -- uh, better make that autoroute.

In a country where much attention is paid to threat of outside cultural hegemony, where an American university was once sued over its Internet site because it was written only in English and where less than 3 percent of the population is wired, organizers of the two-day festival are hoping to introduce the French to the advantages of le cyberspace.

That could be a tall order. This is, after all, the place where just a year ago, advisers to President Jacques Chirac were publicly sighted trying to explain to him the use of a computer mouse.

But Internet boosters emphasize that getting connected to the rest of the world via the English-dominated Internet is simply a necessity.

"Without taking advantage of collaborative work, we are going to be alone, and we are going to lose," says Bruno Oudet, president of France's Internet Society. "It is not a threat by itself. It is a tool."

"People in France are especially thinking about the risks before thinking about the advantages," says festival organizer Herve Le Cornec.

The festival, with hundreds of events over two days, is trying to show the French how to let the Internet into their lives.

At one "Web bar," photographers and artists fill electronic frames with their images. A novelist starts a Web book that will be added to by collaborators all over the world. And, this being France, a jury of chefs and leaders of the food industry judge gourmet Web sites.

Internet reporters cover all the festivities live, with digital cameras and satellite telephones.

But at another site, a mock trial is being held -- complete with real lawyers and judges -- in which a young woman, representative of the Internet, is being judged for her crimes.

She answers no when the judge accuses her of wasting people's time, violating national borders and keeping company with drug dealers and the Mafia.

Because the jury is mostly made up of computer executives, she is unlikely to be judged harshly by them. But it remains to be seen how she will ultimately be judged by the French.

Correspondent Jim Bitterman contributed to this report

Special coverage:

• Jacques Chirac

Related sites:

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• The Internet Society of France
• Yahoo - France on the Internet

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